Top Predictions for Networking in 2018

Arpit Joshipura, GM of Networking and Orchestration at the Linux Foundation, shares his 2018 predictions for the networking industry.

1. 2015’s buzzwords are 2018’s course curriculum.

SDN, NFV, VNF, containers, microservices — the hype crested in 2016 and receded in 2017. But don’t mistake quiet for inactivity; solution providers and users alike have been hard at work with re-architecting and maturing solutions for key networking challenges. And now that these projects are nearing production, these topics are our most requested areas for training.

2. Open Source networking is crossing the chasm – from POCs to Production.

The ability for users and developers to work side by side in open source has helped projects mature quickly — and vendors to rapidly deliver highly relevant solutions to their customers. For example:

The need to integrate multiple platforms, taking into account each of their unique feature sets and limitations, has traditionally been a massive barrier to rapid service delivery.

In 2018, mature abstractions and standardizing processes will enable user organizations to rapidly onboard and orchestrate a diverse set of best-of-breed VNFs and PNFs at need.

5. Advances in cloud and carrier networking are driving skills and purchasing shifts in the enterprise.

The ease and ubiquity of public cloud for simple workloads has reset end user expectations for Enterprise IT. The carrier space has driven maturity of open networking solutions and processes. Enterprise IT departments are now at a crossroads:

How many and which of their workloads and processes do they want to outsource?

How can they effectively support those workloads remaining in-house with the same ease and speed users expect?